Industrial Placement Student Review

GSK is a great company to work for; everyone I encountered was supportive and happy to help. Although I realised quickly that the area my placement was in was not something I want to pursue in the future, there were plenty of opportunities to experience other areas of the company.

My supervisors always thanked me for my work and I felt valued. Despite only being a student, I felt that my work was genuinely contributing to the broader project of my supervisor and team, which they were all grateful. Recognition awards issued by SRG (recruitment agency) and GSK are a great way to acknowledge this.

My supervisor genuinely cared about my personal development, and helped me to get the most out of my placement year. They passed on opportunities within the company to me that were relevant to my career goals, even where not directly aligning with my original project assigned to me. They were very supportive when juggling university and company work.

This varied throughout the year. I never had nothing to do, but some times were definitely very busy, working to tight timeframes. This completely varied between students, as I found I was much more busy than others, and some had more consistent levels of work to do throughout the year.

From the outset I was given responsibility for planning experiments, but received a lot of support in doing this initially. I was gradually given more responsibility throughout the year. Before starting I was worried about being given too much responsibility, but this was a lot easier when it came to it, and could still ask for support whenever needed.

I have massively grown in confidence working in the lab, and learning new skills here is helpful, whether I decide to pursue a career in the lab or not. Developing soft skills and general confidence within the workplace will be invaluable and give me a headstart in a graduate job.

The open plan offices and hot-desking make it easy to find and speak to people. The atmosphere was always positive, and relatively quiet despite its size and openness. There is a kitchen area in the office where people go for coffee breaks and casual meetings, so the atmosphere is quite relaxed.

The onboarding process was very smooth. There is training available alongside other IP students both in and out of the lab in the first week which is really helpful. The IP reps in each department are really helpful and always there to speak to/help if needed. All the IPs seemed to be aligned to a good project when they arrived, according to their interests.

My supervisor was always happy for me to go to events and take on additional opportunities for personal development. They made an effort to help me network with other people within the company if I was interested in their role. Both my supervisors and others in the department were always willing to help teach me/let me shadow them to gain new skills.

I'm personally not interested in the roles available, but if I was I would certainly look to apply within the company. There are a lot of different options. Being an IP student makes it slightly easier to get onto the Future Leaders programme, which we received information about throughout the year.

IP Unite organised events throughout the year both in London and Stevenage. Students within each departments all seemed to get on well, and even when they were the only one in their department, there were plenty of opportunities for them to meet others. So no one was isolated and there was a good community feel.

Stevenage was cheap, although options were limited. London was nearby, but obviously more expensive.

Stevenage had a few pubs, but students often went into London to socialise, which was easily accessible by train.